Saturday, September 17, 2011

Super Earth Found

A planet with Earth like conditions has been discovered. The Planet was discovered by HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Planet Searcher) and has four times the mass of Earth. It's also close enough to its yellow sun to support life and since its close to its yellow sun the planet named HD 85512 B has a consistent temperature of seventy-seven degrees. It is a world almost four times the size of Earth and is located 36 light-years away in the constellation Vela.

The planet exists in what scientists term the habitable zone. This means its in the area around a star where water could exist in liquid form, which would make a potential planet livable. To date scientists have found more than 50 new planets and 16 potentially habitable ones. I posted clips from the news interview from CNN and other media outlets on this planet and other Astronomical discoveries.